


A Real Gem

by InfiniteRabbits



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Fate & Destiny, Multi, Other, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23294980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfiniteRabbits/pseuds/InfiniteRabbits
Summary: (One-Shot, Knuckles x Reader, Any Gender)All your life, something out there has been calling to you. When you discover that it seems to be something from Angel Island sending out for you, you save for years and years to find a pilot that’s willing to fly you out to the island. Today is finally that day. It’s time to answer your true calling.
Relationships: Knuckles the Echidna/Reader
Kudos: 23





	A Real Gem

**Author's Note:**

> Forgive me if the second half of this isn't as great as the rest of it. I got about half way through it before we needed to leave to go to the store, and then we kinda sorta... got t-boned by another car. I was desperate to still finish it, but I did so after being stuck outside for hours, super stressed, and really achy. I'll write another one for Knuckles at some point that's a bit better quality.

Angel Island has always held a special interest in your mind. You’ve heard stories of the things that are there, and for some reason you can’t shake the strong urge to want to go and see it. It’s like the island itself is pulling you there, and has been for years. The one problem? You can’t fly and the darn island floats. Finding a pilot that’s willing to take you up there isn’t as hard as saving to pay the pilot. However that day has finally come! The pilot looks you over curiously as you hand him the money. Your shoes are sturdy and ready for hiking and you’ve packed a large bag with enough supplies to last you days. If this is your one shot at getting onto this island, then darnit, you’re going to make it count! 

“You’re really going all out with this, aren’t you?” He asks, amusement in his eyes. 

“I’ve wanted to go there ever since I was little,” you admit sheepishly. “I guess I can’t help but be excited.”

With a smile, the old terrier reaches to ruffle your hair/fur. 

“Hey, I’m not judging,” he says, taking your pack and helping you get it onto the plane. “The call for exploration is different for all of us. For all you know, this could be the spark that starts your greatest adventure.”

His words make your heart swell and your excitement grow. Not everyone you know has been anywhere near as supportive. Some of the people around you have found your fixation rather stupid. Now, here stood this man that you’ve never met before being the most supportive being you’ve ever met. He helps you climb into the plane and hands you a pair of goggles to keep the wind out of your eyes. 

“I’m not gonna be able to hear you very well over the wind,” he says, handing you an earpiece with a microphone attached to it. “So here, put this on. That way we can chat. It’s a bit of a ride from here. Slide the mic under the strap of your goggles to keep it in place.”

As you pull on the goggles and the ear piece, you can’t help but feel like a real adventurer! So many feelings are welling up inside of you. Excitement takes the foreground, but you can’t help but feel a tiny bit of dread. What if the island’s not all you thought it would be? What if there’s nothing there? What if you spent all of that time and money on nothing and everyone who made fun of you was right?

Then again, _what if they were wrong?_

Just the mere thought of getting to spend time among those pretty trees and mountains is enough to ease your worry. Even if there isn’t anything there, you’re sure you’ll still enjoy yourself. Now that you’re all strapped in and the pilot double-checks your seat belt, he climbs into the cockpit in front of you. 

“You ready?” He asks.

“Ready!”

As the engine switches on and the propeller starts up, you find that while it is loud, it’s actually a lot quieter than you’d assumed it would be. It starts forward and you feel your heart give a little jolt of elation. Your legs jitter in front of you, and no matter what you do, you can’t wipe the huge grin off of your face. As the speed builds up, the plane begins to lift up off of the ground. Your stomach does a strange little flip, but you find that you actually really like the feeling of take-off. It’s not scary. It’s exhilarating! The machine lurges up rather quickly, making you yelp and hold onto the side of the plane. 

“You okay back there?” You hear the old terrier’s voice in your ear. 

“Y-yeah,” you stutter, shaking a little from just how insanely happy you are. “Yeah I’m great!”

He chuckles, glancing back over his shoulder for only a moment. You remind him a lot of himself when he was first starting his adventurer days. He can’t help but feel a fondness for you, as if you were his child or grandchild. All he wants is for you to be happy and safe on your journey. 

“Good,” he hums out. “I’m glad. Well, no time like the present. Off to Angel Island!”

\---

You stare down at the grass, unsure whether or not to believe that you’re _actually there._ The ocean looks so close and yet so far away, and you can feel the ever-so-slight movement of the island even still sitting in the seat of the plane. The anticipation to finally get out of the plane is combated by another strange feeling inside of you; the fear that once you do, your dream will be over. 

“You gonna come out and explore, or are we going back home again?” the terrier teases. 

At that, your ears perk up and you’re quick to scramble out of the plane. The last thing you’d want is to go home without actually getting to be on the island.

“Attaboy/girl/pal,” he says, giving a loud laugh as he reaches to pat your back so hard that he nearly knocks you over.

Being as old as he is, he’s still pretty darn strong. With a wide grin, he hands you your backpack. 

“Here’s your stuff. You wanted how many days here again?” He asks.

“Four,” you reply, still breathless from your eagerness to explore. 

“You got it, champ.”

Digging through his own side-pouch, he pulls out a small communicator.

“Here, take this,” he says as he offers it to you. “We’ll meet back here in four days, but if you need me sooner for any sort of emergency or you get lost on your way back to this spot, you can call me with this. Also--” There’s a long pause as he digs around inside of the plane where he’d stored your bag. “Here. I know you probably packed enough food but I thought I’d bring you lunch. You know, just in case.”

It’s amazing how thoughtful he is. You take both the communicator and the sack-lunch, honestly unsure of what to do in that moment. Before you can stop yourself, you rush forward to hug the old man. Despite just having met, you’re almost wishing this guy was your dad. He just seems to radiate supportive energy. With another laugh, he awkwardly hugs you back. 

“Alright, alright,” he teases, grasping your shoulders and turning you away from him. “Go have your adventure! I’ll see you soon.”

Giving you a pat on the shoulder, he finally pulls away and makes his way back into the plane. You’re sure to step away to give him enough room to take off, and you give him a final wave as he flies by and back to his home. Now that you’re finally alone, the reality of the situation finally starts to set in. There’s no noise but the wind rustling through the trees and some small, native birds. It’s amazingly peaceful and for the first time in your life, _you feel like you’re home_.

\---

Only one day into your exploration, and you’re pretty sure you could stay here forever. Settling down by the fire you built, you finally open up the lunch that the Pilot gave you before he left. You’ve been so focused on roaming around, trying to map everything out, and overall just being lost in the beauty of the island that you’d completely forgotten to eat. The sun was long-gone at this point, and you’d never seen the moon and stars as clearly as you can from your camp. Inside of the lunch bag is quite the hefty looking sandwich, and some freshly picked fruit. Again your heart swells at the memory of your new friend. Who knows, perhaps next time you can go on an adventure together. He seems nice enough. 

Once your belly is full, you pull out your journal and the map you’ve been trying to sketch. You’re not even a quarter of your way through the island yet, but the idea of filling up the parchment and the journal in front of you with all of your discoveries makes it all the more exciting. Every once in a while, you’d stopped to sketch out the unique plant-life or pretty areas you particularly liked in the journal. Flipping through the pages now makes you incredibly happy that you’ve taken this trip. If anything, the memories will last you a lifetime. 

A sudden rusle in the plants beside you make you jump. For a moment, your sketches are forgotten and curiosity takes ahold of you.

“Hello?” You call out softly.

Only silence answers. Surely there can’t be anyone else here on the island with you. Perhaps it was just a wild animal. Even still, you can feel eyes watching you, boring into you with a strange aura. It sends a shiver down your spine, and as much as you’d like to keep sketching, you decide that perhaps it’s time to head to bed for the night. Carefully you pour some water over the flames of your fire to put it out before you head into your little tent. The only things inside are your backpack and your sleeping back. It’s just simpler that way; easier to pack up and go whenever morning comes. 

Settling into your sleeping bag with the flap of your tent closed makes you feel at least a little bit safer. Sure it’s just a single small layer between you and whatever’s outside, but it brings you an odd sense of security. Slowly your eyes begin to droop. Sleep is so close to taking a hold of you… until another rusle sounds off just beside your tent. With a soft gasp, your eyes fly open and you jolt up; pulling the front of your sleeping bag up to your chin. 

That doesn’t sound like a wild animal. _That sounds like someone walking_.

“Hello?” You call again. “Is there someone out there?”

Again, there is no answer. You swallow hard, trying to get the anxious lump in your throat to go away. Maybe it’s nothing. Maybe you’re just freaking yourself out. This is the wilderness, after all. Perhaps it’s just a bigger animal than you thought. With a nervous sigh, you lay back down and pull the sleeping bag completely over your head. Maybe if you close your eyes tight enough and silently will it to go away, it will.

Whether or not your wishes work, you’re unsure. After about an hour of pure silence, you finally feel yourself fall asleep.

\---

Whatever was rooting around your camp seems to have left by the time the sun has come up. It’s a relief, really. The fear planted small seeds of worry in your mind, but you tried your best to push them aside. Now was not the time to worry. Now was the perfect time to explore! After some breakfast and packing up your camp, you happily make your way through more of the forest around you. It feels as though there’s never-ending sights to see. The more you look around, the more you feel the draw of something trying to pull you closer. It’s a strange, almost tangible feeling. You can almost swear you feel something as tiny as a string tugging at your heart to guide you in the right direction. Soon enough, the foliage around you clears. Before you is a large stone staircase that leads up to a beautiful looking area. Or at least, you think it is. It’s hard to see from down here. Another rustle in the trees sounds off beside you, but you can’t seem to hear it this time. Your focus is completely on whatever is at the top of this strange stone temple-like structure. 

Your heart is pounding like crazy in your chest, and somehow you just know what whatever’s been calling you to this island is so close within reach that it’s almost killing you to wait even a second longer. Carefully you make your way up the steps, taking your time to look over each and every detail. It looked as though there were once intricate carvings in the stone, but they had been worn away by nature over the years. What you see as you reach the top isn’t at all what you’d expected. A giant emerald takes your breath away. Hardly noticing that you’ve taken your backpack off and dropped it to the floor beside your feet, you make your way forward. The gem is bigger than you are!

Though it’s just a crystal, you can almost swear you hear soft whispers from it. It’s hard to tell if the whispers are actually there, or if you’re just feeling them as a feeling. Even you can’t really describe what they are. All you know is that they’re calling you. The string you’ve felt wrapped around your heart gives a tug and you step closer still. If only you could just touch it, perhaps it would tell you just why it’s called you here. Slowly your fingers inch closer and closer to the gem until--

“HEY!” A loud voice shouts behind you.

It startles you, making you jump away from the emerald. As you turn to try and get a look at who shouted at you, you just barely miss a punch being thrown your way. A white glove whizzes past your face, nearly hitting the emerald in the process as you topple over. Close combat wasn’t exactly what you had in mind for this adventure. You stare up at the other figure in shock. A red echidna with a white crescent shape on his chest stands before you, looking as though he’s ready to try and throw another punch or just outright bite your head off. 

“What are you doing here?” He demands, a deep growl in his voice.

His tone makes you shiver, though you’re not sure it’s entirely out of fear. For a moment, you’re completely at a loss for words. It takes a few deep breaths to ease the words out.

“I was just exploring,” you explain. “I’ve wanted to come here ever since I was little. I was never really sure why, until…”

For a moment you trail off, turning to gaze up at the giant gem before you.

“It… was _calling_ me,” you finish.

“ _Calling_ you?” The echidna scoffed. “The Master Emerald doesn’t just _call_ people. I bet you’re here to steal it!”

“N-No, no!” You insist, holding both hands up to try and show that you mean no harm. “I literally just came here to look around. Check my bag, if you want to. It’s just food and journals. How could I have thought to steal something this _huge_ with only those supplies?”

He hesitates for a moment, starting to lower his fighting stance. Considering the fact that you haven’t gotten up off the floor or pulled some sort of trick on him yet, he’s more likely to believe you. Before he does, however, he takes you up on your offer. Quickly, your bag is torn open and the echidna starts to go all out with yanking things out and...for some reason throwing them all over the place. 

“Pencil, pencil, journal, parchment, fruit-- _Ooh, grapes!_ ”

Once he’s satisfied with the contents, he pulls back and pulls your grapes along as well. Apparently he’s claimed them as his own without asking permission first. Really, you’re just glad that he’s not attacking you anymore. 

“Well well, guess you weren’t lying,” he says, popping a few grapes into his mouth. “Still not sure why the Master Emerald would be callin’ ya here though. I’ve never seen it do that before.”

“I don’t know,” you admit, adjusting to be more comfortable on the ground. “It’s like… like a string tied around my heart, tugging me closer and closer to it. I’ve felt drawn to this place ever since I first learned about it. Before that, I always just assumed I liked to travel, but it seems like all this time I’ve been searching for something. Maybe this was it.”

As you speak, you glance up at the emerald in question. So it’s called the Master Emerald? It seemed like a fitting name for a gem that looked like it was the master of all gems. Somehow you’d never comprehended that they could even come in that size. 

“Huh.” The echidna shifts uncomfortably. “And let me ask you this, do you _hear_ anything from it?”

As he asks, you look up at him in shock. Could he hear the whispers too?

“Yeah... I do,” You admit. “It’s super soft and hard to hear but… All I know when I try to figure out what I’m feeling is that: I really want to protect it.”

Hearing that makes the other bristle up. For some reason, he doesn’t seem to like the idea of someone else taking care of the emerald. He gives an unhappy noise as he crosses his arms and turns his snoot up into the air.

“Well there’s no way it’s telling you to protect it, because that’s _my_ job,” he protests loudly. 

“Well, maybe you could use a little bit of help?” You suggest. 

At that, his cheeks go so red that you’re almost sure he’s about to explode. Surely the look on his face confirms that. However there is no explosion to be found. Only a very angry echidna with cheeks as red as his body.

“I don’t need anybody’s help!” He shouts. “Especially not the likes of _YOU_.”

With a huff, he turns and storms away, heading halfway down the stairs before he stops and sits stubbornly. Maybe you’ve struck a nerve. Heck, he was so angry that he dropped his grapes on top of your backpack. For a moment, you hesitate. Was it really worth it to try and be buddy-buddy with him? He did seem to be the Emerald’s chosen one, but then… What did that make you? Why did it call you here to try and help it? You contemplate things for a long moment before you finally stand. Grasping the grapes and making your way down the stairs, you sit down beside the echidna and offer them back to him. He tries to face away from you, but the temptation of the food is far too great for him. He snatches them from your grasp, starting to chow down on them grumpily. 

“I’m (y/n),” You start, leaning onto your own knees as you gaze at him. “And you are?”

“Knuckles,” he answers stubbornly, still refusing to look at you.

“Nice to meet you, Knuckles,” you reply. 

He simply gives a grunt of displeasure. Perhaps there’s still a way that you can get through to him. Maybe you can even become close partners! Partners in protecting the Emerald, of course. At least, that’s what you’re trying to tell yourself. It’s hard to ignore the flush on your own cheeks as you watch him finish off his snack. 

“You know, I’d really love to hear how you work so hard protecting the Master Emerald,” You admit. “It must be a tough job.”

And just like that, it seems as though flattery will get you everywhere. There’s an immediate shift in the echidna’s attitude. He looks at you as though you’re the only person in the world that’s ever praised him, and suddenly he’s puffing up his chest in pride with a smug look taking over his features. 

“It _is_ a pretty tough job,” Knuckles agrees. “But I’m a pretty tough guy!”

“I bet you are,” you agree. “You nearly took my face off with that punch earlier.”

“Ah, yeah… sorry about that,” he says sheepishly. “I tend to throw punches first, ask questions later. It’s just how I roll.”

“I wish I was as brave as you are,” you say, laying it on pretty thick. Stroking his ego seems to be working with getting him to open up and stop being quite so hostile. Again, he seems to be puffing his chest as though to look bigger and more impressive.

“I _am_ pretty awesome,” Knuckles agrees. “I mean, I _have_ helped save the world a few times.”

“You don’t say?” You gasp dramatically, reaching to grasp your own cheeks. As much as you know you’re hamming it up, you truly are curious about his stories.

“You know… Maybe having an assistant guardian _could_ come in handy,” The echidna says, starting to change his tune. “Whenever I have to help Sonic and Tails save the world, I always feel uneasy leaving the Master Emerald all by itself. It’s not safe. Maybe you could stay here and look after it for me whenever I have to leave!”

You can feel your excitement returning with a force so strong that you can feel your own eyes lighting up with happiness. The look alone is enough to make Knuckles smirk. Your enthusiastic nodding pulls his smirk into an outright grin. 

“Oh yes, that sounds amazing!” You agree. “Will you teach me?”

With a confident chuckle, he reaches to rub under his own nose. It seems that you have officially earned his good graces. Even now, you can’t help but notice that he’s far more handsome when he’s grinning at you than when he’s throwing a punch at you. Knuckles shoots you a wink and a thumbs up.

“There’s no one in the world who could teach you how to guard the Master Emerald better than me,” Knuckles replies. “Count me in!”

This is it. This is what your life was missing. After all these years, you’ve finally answered the Master Emerald’s call. To think, you were about to get to live on this island. As Knuckles starts into one of his many stories of saving the world, you can’t help but think that you’re going to have to call your pilot friend and tell him that picking you up in four days might not actually be necessary.


End file.
